Vancouver has various neighbourhoods and areas that are often talked about, places like Commercial Drive and the West End, but one street, Fraser Street, isn’t often on the receiving end of such love.
That changed recently in a pocket of social media when Vancouver resident John Pantherbone — who is from Alberta originally but has been living in Vancouver since 2010 — decided to share some photos in an appreciation thread of Fraser Street on the Vancouver subreddit.
He wasn’t alone in his appreciation and love for Fraser Street.
We caught up with Pantherbone and asked him what makes the street worth celebrating, aside from Vancouver’s favourite ice cream spot.
“It’s not as busy as some other streets, but it does have nice pockets of activity with a nice relaxing vibe,” Pantherbone said.
He gave a shout-out to Earnest Ice Cream and Happy Cat, a pet store for your feline essentials. He also mentioned Fraser Street having cool restaurants like pizza place Carano and Filipino spot Bulalohan Sa Ilocos.
One Redditor said they always forget about Fraser Street, a sentiment that many Vancouverites probably share.
Pantherbone doesn’t necessarily think Fraser Street is underrated per se, “but it does get less foot traffic.”
“That’s why I wanted to capture it on my film camera in the evening. The evening vibes of the neighbourhood are captured so well through the medium of film photography,” Pantherbone said.
In his Reddit thread, a majority of the commenters shared Pantherbone’s opinions.
“When I lived there between 2007-13, it was SUCH a dead zone. Glad to see over the years it’s reaching its potential,” one Redditor said.
Someone else called it “2000s Main Street.”
“Everyone is always so relaxed and happy there, I find,” someone else commented.
“I also like venturing down further down past 41st Avenue on my motorcycle for places to eat,” Pantherbone added.
Tragic Vancouver history for Fraser Street
Speaking of 41st Avenue, tragedy is what thrust Fraser Street into the spotlight last year after the Lapu Lapu Day attack.
People around Canada and parts of the world suddenly knew what Fraser Street was, sadly not for the family-run businesses that populate the street or the unique ethnic restaurants like Pampanga’s Cuisine, one of Vancouver’s OG Filipino spots that you can’t find anywhere else in Vancouver.
Lots of healing and soul-searching took place since last year, and it’s great to see the community bounce back since then, with people celebrating the neighbourhood.
Some Redditors also shouted out other spots on Fraser Street, like Lee’s Electronics, calling it legendary. There were a couple of shout-outs for Nammos Estiatorio.
Others also pointed out that there are plenty of great restaurants between 41st and 49th Avenue.
Fraser and 49th is also where you can find the original Breka Bakery, which has since gone on to expand across Vancouver and is behind a proposed 30-storey hotel tower for the Marine-Gateway area.
The term melting pot gets thrown around a lot, but Fraser Street truly is a melting pot of diverse cultures, backgrounds and all the joys that come from those backgrounds, including delicious food, with something that would surely satisfy anyone’s palate, whether it’s Indian, Chinese, Filipino, or the Michelin-recommended Bar Bravo.
In a world that’s being overrun by corporations and large businesses, Fraser Street still has the human touch, with mom and pop family-run shops everywhere.
If you haven’t taken a walk down Fraser, we highly recommend it.